Featured Articles – June 2010 Archive (30)

So, about that prediction of mine for Roger Federer as Wimbledon champ ...

Unexpectedly, or maybe not, the way he struggled from the onset of the tournament, Federer lost to Tomas Berdych today in the quarterfinals. We all know the details: the end of his finals streak there, two quarterfinal losses back-to-back in Majors, blah, blah, blah.

Despite all that, I'm far from ready to throw in the towel on him. And here's why, in two words and a number (I don't think I said this… Continue

Federer (1) vs. Berdych (12): Far from flawless in his first two rounds, Federer rediscovered his range during the next two matches and has dropped just 16 games in his last 6 sets. Having fallen to a…

Effective but unspectacular in her third-round victory, Sharapova reached the second week of a Slam for just the second time in her comeback from shoulder surgery and extended an encouraging passage of play that began with her Strasbourg title in May. Compiling a 14-3 record since her return from elbow injury, Maria now confronts a monumental challenge in world…

The first week of the Championships at Wimbledon will be remembered for the top men's struggle and the royal presence. But nothing would be as memorable as the Isner-Mahut marathon which brought major changes in the history books with record-breaking achievements.

The Championships at Wimbledon started with a bang this year when the green grass....

Trudging to the locker room after a 16-14 fifth set against Santiago Giraldo, Thiemo De Bakker must have feared that this protracted encounter would leave him at a physical disadvantage against his next opponent, either Isner or Mahut. As all tennis fans know well, such thoughts proved unfounded as the Frenchman and the American shattered virtually every record in every…

What other adjectives can I use that haven't already been taken? Epic. Outstanding. Ridiculous.

Sure other players won today including Roger Federer who was tested again by qualifier Ilija Bozoljac while Venus Williams took out red hot Ekaterina Makarova, but it was a match that ended yesterday and that also ended tonight at 59-59 all in the final set with no winner in sight that has become not only the tennis match of the tournament, not only the match of the year, but one for all… Continue

Eagerly exploiting the faster surface, Sharapova followed her Birmingham finals appearance with a suffocating salvo to ignite her Wimbledon campaign. The transition from clay to grass proved a bit less hospitable, however, to two terrors of the terre battue. Unceremoniously ushered out of their All England Club debuts, Verdasco and Stosur failed to translate their six combined clay finals into the language of grass. But their defeats speak less about their shortcomings than about…

If Wimbledon used the best-of-three format for the first week of its men’s matches, three of the top eight seeds would have fallen in their openers to Alejandro Falla, Olivier Rochus, and Kevin Anderson. While the travails of neither Djokovic nor Davydenko surprised us, the near-disaster suffered by the six-time champion was completely unexpected, since Federer had comfortably dismissed Falla twice in the last month. Forced to extricate himself from a two-set deficit, the feckless top seed…

Have you ever been nervous enough to worry about an upcoming match? Have you ever been so nervous that the game seemed more difficult than it does when you practice? One way to improve your performance when your mind seems to be full of worry is simply to “relax”. You don’t want to relax your mind, just the muscles in your body. You will find that most of your worries will stop once your body…

Wimbledon has always been the place for memorable matches. From big serves combined with gliding volleys to grinding rallies mixed with massive ground strokes, the Gladiators of tennis have always been fighting wars of great proportions to prove their metal over the other on the grass courts of Wimbledon. Every match is a blend of efforts and great determination put in by the players involved. However, a few matches at Wimbledon just stand out to be the most memorable matches ever…

Glancing through the Wimbledon draws, we found them more balanced and intriguing than their Roland Garros counterparts. Rather than reaching a premature climax early in the second week, the narratives should build compellingly throughout the fortnight. Yet perhaps this impression merely stems from the fact that grass suits more elite players than does clay; there are many fewer “grass specialists” than “clay specialists,” especially as the former surface slows over the years. At any rate,…

As players and fans anxiously await the Wimbledon draws, we turn our lens towards the snakes in the grass: dangerous lurkers who won’t hoist the trophy but from whom the top competitors hope to keep their distance. Often quirky and typically opportunistic, this group spans a spectrum from grizzled veterans (only figuratively grizzled, in one case) to surging newcomers eager to brand their imprint onto the pristine lawns of the All England Club. Ladies, gentlemen, and Jelena Jankovic, meet…

I'm very nervous about the usta playoffs as tons of people will be there and I have lot of performance anxiety especially when people are watching. My team and coach expects me to do well but i realize that more pressure is put on me i tend to hyperventilate and my thinking process turns to lot of worrying.. I've tried breathing, visualizing and practice with ball machine etc...but anxiety seems to be uncontrollable... I know losing in tennis isn't end of the world but our team ended with a… Continue

It seems like only a week or so ago that Schiavone was ingesting particles of crushed brick and Nadal was crying softly into his towel. Well, it was only a week or so ago. Nevertheless, another Slam looms on the history-laden lawns of Wimbledon, which means that another preview is straight ahead. We start at the top with the tournament favorites, profiling causes for confidence and concern in each of their individual circumstances.

In the 2008 French Open, the new world #1 Ana Ivanovic proudly lifted the first Slam trophy of what seemed destined to be a career replete with such memorable moments. In the 2010 French Open, the world #42 Ana Ivanovic cowered helplessly behind the baseline as the burly Alisa Kleybanova crammed a second-set bagel down her throat in the second round. How did this precipitous two-year plunge from glory to misery accelerate with such alarming speed? We look at seven of the principal…

Now that the long and grueling clay court season, owned by one man, is done, we’ve now entered not only the midpoint of the season but for some tennis purists the only part of the season that matters. And although it’s probably premature to start analyzing the recent early exits by top seeds at the Queen’s Club event while Roger Federer cruises to what looks like another trophy at Halle, it’s probably more fascinating to try and analyze why this time of year, always so brief and almost…

Understated and businesslike when she takes the court, Samantha Stosur represents a striking anomaly amidst the melodramatic, made-for-TV extravaganzas produced and directed by the WTA’s current elite. Although scowls, sneers, and sobs provide compelling entertainment, it’s also refreshing to observe a sturdy competitor who simply plays tennis in an unruffled, methodical manner. Dedication to the sport shines clearly from Stosur’s focused attitude, which should enable her to build upon the…